Who would think Colin Farrell would be the go-to guy to play a sensitive and sweet bisexual? The Irish actor seems to so enjoy pumping up his hyper-hetero bad-boy image that his performance is a revelation. Though he already has established his dramatic talent (he was terrific in Minority Report) and an ability to deliver a convincing American accent, Farrell proves he can also play endearing.

Robin Wright Penn and Colin Farrell form two-thirds of a love triangle in A Home at the End of the World.

Warner Independent Pictures

Though it was Farrell who brought A Home at the End of the World early notoriety mostly through the full-frontal nude scene that was cut, the movie is really a lovely ensemble piece. Beautifully conceived and written by Michael Cunningham (Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Hours), the film has a distinctly novelistic and literate style. (Related video: See a clip from A Home at the End of the World)

It doesn't hurt that the acting is top-notch, too. Robin Wright Penn is wondrous as Clare, a free spirit who may be more traditional than she knows. Never has Wright Penn given such a natural and appealing performance, supplying some of the movie's funniest lines with dead-on comic delivery.

ABOUT THE MOVIE

A Home at the End of the World* * * (out of four)Stars: Colin Farrell, Robin Wright Penn, Dallas Roberts, Sissy SpacekDirector: Michael MayerDistributor: Warner Independent PicturesRating: R for strong drug content, sexuality, nudity, language and a disturbing accidentOpens Friday in New York and L.A.

Clare is a third of an unusual trio who love one another with varying levels of intensity and complexity. Bobby (Farrell) and Clare are lovers, but she once pined for their gay roommate, Jonathan (Dallas Roberts), who was Bobby's first love.

Bobby and Jonathan have been close friends since their Cleveland boyhood. (They are played as teens by two talented young actors, Erik Smith and Harris Allan.) Because of a series of tragedies, Bobby is raised by Jonathan's family. Bobby adores Jonathan's nurturing mother, Alice (a luminous Sissy Spacek), a housewife whose sights are expanded by Bobby. Spacek has a hilarious scene involving music and marijuana that we won't spoil here.

In their youth, Bobby is far more comfortable with their mutual sexual experimentation than the more uptight Jonathan. But Bobby clings to Jonathan's family and grows up to be more tentative and confused about his sexuality. Clare coaxes Bobby into becoming a passionate lover, but there is still sexual tension between Bobby and Jonathan. The three manage to form a closely knit unit — despite occasional jealousies and small rifts — and seem to need no one else, save occasional visits with Alice.

Though this intimate portrait has minor flaws — mostly involving contradictory aspects of Farrell's character, occasional excess sweetness and an unrealistic look at parenting — it is an intriguing look at an unconventional definition of family, whose members don't speak in Hollywood clichés. The unexpectedly gentle, almost pensive ending is especially refreshing.